NDA opens plans to public consultation

The UK's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has revealed how it intends to meet the country's nuclear decommissioning challenges over the next three years in a draft business plan that has been opened to public consultation.

The NDA is responsible for the UK's civil public sector nuclear estate including first-generation Magnox reactor sites, research and fuel facilities and the Sellafield nuclear complex. Each site is operated by a site licence company under contract to the NDA.

The 53-page draft business plan covers the period from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2018. It sets out key objectives and expected progress for all 17 of NDA's sites over that period, as well as giving a 20-year overview of forthcoming activities across NDA's estate. The NDA says it plans to spend £3.31 billion ($5.17 billion) in 2015-2016 alone, of which £2.09 billion ($3.27 billion) will be funded by the UK government and £1.22 billion ($1.91) by income from commercial operations. The NDA is still receiving income from the last Magnox reactor, Wylfa, which is due to cease operations in December 2015.

NDA CEO John Clarke said that in the past decade the NDA had completed the restructuring of the UK's civil decommissioning program and the introduction of a "decommissioning mindset" to the estate. "The challenge for the next decade is to build upon this and deliver a number of our sites into their interim end states having completed bulk decommissioning, along with the removal of the majority of the nuclear waste," he said.

The consultation will close on 30 January, after which the NDA will revise the plan as appropriate. Subject to final approval by the governments of the UK and Scotland, the NDA expects to publish the final version in early April.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News